Ready to assemble or knock-down type furniture is often used where a person desires furniture which is easy to assemble or which is easy to transport or store when disassembled. This style of furniture is often used by college students, for example, as it can be easily moved and stored. Typical ready to assemble furniture, however, has its disadvantages. A significant disadvantage is that the furniture requires hardware and tools for assembly. This furniture typically uses metal posts and cams to assemble the furniture. The metal posts screw into and extend from particle board panels and are inserted into a cam lock in another panel. The cam lock is rotated to hold the post captive. Other ready to assemble furniture uses a few small nails to assemble the furniture.
These available furniture systems have several disadvantages. The fasteners are difficult to adequately tighten and, even when properly tightened, are simply insufficient to secure the furniture. As such, the assembled furniture is not particularly sturdy and the shifting of the furniture panels as the furniture is moved or used places significant stress on the fasteners. This movement loosens the fasteners and destroys the wood around the fastener, degrading the quality of the furniture.
Available furniture is also disadvantageous as it requires tools to assemble or disassemble. Many people have few tools and may not have the proper tools for assembly. This makes proper assembly more difficult. Additionally, available knock down furniture is often complex to assemble. Combined with typically poor instructions, most persons do not enjoy assembling the furniture.